Biglari: Résumé padding at Cracker Barrel?

Biglari is chairman and CEO of Biglari Holdings Inc., Cracker Barrel’s largest shareholder. Biglari is seeking two seats on Cracker Barrel’s board but has been rebuffed by the restaurant and retail chain based in Lebanon, Tenn.

Biglari now claims to have found a discrepancy in the résumé of James W. Bradford, Cracker Barrel’s incoming chairman.

Here’s what a Cracker Barrel proxy statement, filed Thursday, says about Bradford: “He previously served from 1992 to 1999 as President and Chief Executive Officer of AFG Industries Inc., which during his tenure was North America’s largest vertically integrated glass manufacturing and fabrication company and was traded on the New York Stock Exchange.”

According to a letter Biglari sent today to Cracker Barrel’s board, there’s just one problem: Bradford has never been the CEO of a NYSE company

Biglari says in the letter that AFG was taken private four years before Bradford was appointed CEO.

A Cracker Barrel spokeswoman didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

“The question for shareholders is whether Mr. Bradford was indeed CEO of a NYSE-listed company,” Biglari says in his letter to board. “If the answer is negative, then misrepresentations have been made in SEC filings, investor presentations, and a letter to shareholders.

“If Mr. Bradford has embellished his professional record, we believe this undermines his credibility,” the letter continues. “Therefore, the Board must determine whether Mr. Bradford should continue in his present capacity.”

Cracker Barrel’s annual meeting, where shareholders will vote on directors, is set for next month.